Latest news with #TheTacomaNewsTribune
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Buckley mayor fined nearly $15k over missing campaign forms
This story was originally published on Buckley Mayor Beau Burkett has racked up a bill of nearly $15,000 worth in fines. The fines are mostly related to breaking campaign finance laws, including having late or missing financial disclosures, according to The Tacoma News Tribune. The latest fine was a $1,000 charge filed last week for not reporting personal debt on a 2023 form, with his total amount owed reaching $14,850 in fines. The Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) states that all elected officials must file financial statements to ensure transparency. Candidates running for public office in Washington must file an F-1 Personal Financial Affairs Statement, which documents the candidate's salary range, the real estate they own, and membership on boards of committees, among other important information. According to The Tacoma News Tribune, Burkett did not turn in F-1 forms for 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019. In 2021, while running in the mayoral race, he didn't turn in his 2020 F-1 or his C-1 candidate registration form. When requested to file the paperwork accordingly, he failed to include and disclose the $13,850 he owed in fines to the PDC. 'Mayor Burkett is one of the approximately 5-10% of people who don't correct their forms when contacted by PDC staff,' Edwards wrote in an email to The News Tribune. 'Despite this, and despite the many thousands of dollars that Mayor Burkett already owes the agency for years of ignoring the law, the PDC still offered to suspend virtually all of today's penalty if he corrects his F1 report.' Burkett did not appear at last week's hearing. KIRO Newsradio has reached out for comment. Burkett's term as mayor ends December 31, and the fines have been sent to collections.
Yahoo
05-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Creature that looks like ‘walking watermelon' born at WA zoo. See the ‘little miracle'
An endangered baby animal that looks like a fuzzy 'walking watermelon' was born at a Washington zoo. The white striped and speckled Malayan tapir calf was born Feb. 2 at Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium in Tacoma, the zoo said in a news release. It's the second time a tapir has been born at the zoo since it opened 120 years ago, zoo officials said. The 20-pound healthy newborn is currently 'nursing and bonding' with its mother, Yuna. Yuna is 10 years old and weighs nearly 900 pounds, zoo officials said. The creature's father is Baku, and he's also 10 and weighs 800 pounds. The pair had a baby boy at the zoo in 2019, The Tacoma News Tribune reported that year. Zoo officials said they will name the new baby and announce its sex in the 'coming weeks.' But in the meantime, the calf will continue to nurse for the next six months and stay with its mom for 12 to 18 months, zoo officials said. 'Thank you Point Defiance Zoo for sharing this little miracle with us all!' one person commented on Facebook. 'Another fuzzy watermelon! So exciting,' another person wrote. The Malayan Tapir is the largest of the four tapir species, according to the Tapir Specialist Group. This species is found in Asia in southern Myanmar and southern Thailand. Tapirs are herbivores and have long and flexible noses for snagging leaves and fruit, the zoo said. When they are babies, they are born with white stripes and dots to blend in with their environment. The 'mostly nocturnal' animal typically lives alone but may live in a pair. Zoo officials said the tapir is endangered due to disappearing forests, farms, logging and being hunted by humans. Otter pair gets new home at North Carolina aquarium. See them frolicking under water 'Sassy' 55-year-old chimpanzee — known for 'signature screams' — dies at Michigan zoo Rare sightings and mysterious behavior: Check out animal stories from around the world
